


The Leader

by i_amthecosmos, magdalyna



Series: Adapted verse [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Birds, Dystopia, Established Relationship, Liam is lonely, Liam with powers, M/M, Snakes, sci-fi universe, winged Zayn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-08
Updated: 2016-09-08
Packaged: 2018-08-13 21:02:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7986094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_amthecosmos/pseuds/i_amthecosmos, https://archiveofourown.org/users/magdalyna/pseuds/magdalyna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Event, Liam finds himself with a new ability, and some new friends. It doesn't mean he isn't still lonely, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Leader

**Author's Note:**

> I was entirely willing to leave the Adapted-verse at the Ziall story. But Mags did what they always do and helped me expand it. So this is what happened to Liam. I didn't come up with the ability to talk to birds and snakes, that's all Mags.

Liam was in Madrid when it happened. 

He had accepted an invitation to go see a Real Madrid game at home. The match was about halfway through when a loud rumble and a strong tremor went through the field. He stood up, trying to keep his balance, and yelled at one of the players. “Hey! We should go!” Then, the ground rumbled again, and there was a loud electric whine. 

Liam felt it. He wasn’t even sure what it was, but it must have been it. His phone died right in front of him, and he heard the sound of screeching brakes on the road. It was as if every car stopped at once. That couldn’t be right. Could it? Then he heard a rumble as some of the nearby buildings came down, and he was out of there, running with everyone else, trying to find shelter.

The crowd was all around him, as they ran in the burning sun. Liam watched as people abandoned their cars, yelling and kicking tires. There was a collapsed building, and people went to try to help, to pull rocks off of people. Liam saw blood and dust, and then he felt another rumble. 

Instead of an earthquake, someone crawled out of the rubble. Liam gaped, and he saw a man next to him make the sign of the cross. The person (person?) that waded out of the rubble had a head like a gargoyle, and his skin was turning gray-green as Liam watched. The man brushed the dust off, felt himself over, and then pushed through the crowd, leaving the rest of the people in the rubble. 

A man close by yelled at the gargoyle man in Spanish, throwing a rock at his retreating back, and Liam went back to trying to dig people out. 

Later, Liam wound up wandering in the Spanish heat, his shirt torn, dust and blood streaking his arms. He’d tried to help who he could, but it was so strange. Nothing was working-no cars, no phones, no electricity. And people were changing all over the place. All sorts of changes-he saw a woman with her eyes changing color as talons grew where her nails were. Incredible stuff, like in Roo’s fantasy novels.

That stopped him. _Roo_. His family. He had no way to contact them, or to get back. Was this happening everywhere? He didn’t know. They would want to find him. He had to find a way out of here.

He found a stretch of road, cars littered all over it, that had an arrow and said “England, 1,800 k”. He decided to walk that way, as long as he could. 

It was incredibly hard. He would have to stop every now and then and get water. By now the police and rescue people had taken over, and were trying to keep the peace and distribute what they could. But all around, there were these assholes who seemed to feel like normal rules didn’t apply to them. Liam personally watched one bloke who was hovering six feet off the ground, and trying to hoard all the bottled water needed for relief. It was disgusting. Liam was glad he wasn’t one of those wankers.

…

On about the fifth day, Liam noticed a change in himself. 

He was walking down the street in the bright sun, and he felt something call to him. It didn’t use language, not really. But he heard it say _Water_.

Liam stopped, and looked around. He couldn’t find a person nearby, he had no idea what he was even looking for. But eventually, he saw a little bird. The bird whistled when Liam looked at him. (Him? Yes, him.) Liam went over to it, and the bird hopped closer. It was a little thing, so Liam kneeled down. “Water?” He said out loud.

The bird spoke. Or anyway, he heard the bird in his head. _Yes water yes, follow me_. Liam followed the small thing as it hopped ahead of him, and he lead him to a small stream. _Yes water no predators here safe to drink_ the bird said in his head. 

Liam hoped it was safe for people too, and he got to his knees, and filled a water bottle he had with him. He tried it, and the water tasted just fine. He heard a splash, and saw a fish flapping its tail. This sent the songbird to hiding behind him. The fish poked its head out of the water and fish-mouthed at him a minute. Liam could make out _Drink_ Then the fish went back underwater. 

Liam was having the weirdest, but best day since all this happened. “Thank you little bird,” Liam said, and the bird hopped on his shoulder. “I’m going a long way, you want to come?” The bird whistled.

Liam had found a little friend. Things might not be so bad. 

…

But after being able to hear his sparrow friend, suddenly the floodgates opened. He could hear _every_ bird, and then it was more. Snakes, and reptiles in general. And of course the fish, which meant Liam had to swear both birds and fish off of his diet at a time when food wasn’t very plentiful. (He wasn’t eating snakes either, but it wasn’t something he did much of before anyway.)

Soon, Liam would have several different birds following him by air, and some lizards and snakes on the ground. Other people got out of his way quickly when they saw all of them coming. But the birds and reptiles left each other alone for the most part, which made Liam happy. He would hate it if they tried to eat each other.

One day, he could hear the cries of distress, from a multitude of animals, and he followed their signals until he found an abandoned zoo. The animals had just been left, and Liam felt a burn of anger. He found a section called “North America” that had many types of owls and a turkey vulture. He freed them with a pair of bolt cutters, and then went to find the reptile house. 

He might have done his rescue act a couple more times before he found himself back in the UK. He was attracting attention wherever he went, and not because he was ‘Liam Payne’ either. More because ‘here comes that freak with the snakes’. It didn’t bother him too much. He was able to get enough food for himself and his friends. Eventually he found a little shelter, and they could all rest a bit. The eagles and owls would stay outside, on the roof, watching for trouble, and the snakes curled in front of the door. 

He felt very safe, even if he hadn’t found his family yet. 

…

After a while, he heard rumors about a dark-haired man with wings and a non-Adapted friend who were living in the heart of the discord and rubble that was London now. He didn’t think much of it until someone mentioned that they looked like former members of One Direction. And he still discounted it until he overheard someone say that the non-Adapted one was still somehow bleaching his hair. Niall Horan could find hair bleach in the middle of a disaster if anyone could.

So Liam and his friends started taking little walks into the part of town they were supposed to be. For a while he saw nothing. But one day, when he was trying to get Boris the turkey vulture from stealing some meat from a vendor, he suddenly saw them. Zayn was leaning against a wall, taking a pull off a blunt, and Niall was standing next to him, looking wan and a bit hungry. “Hey!” 

Zayn glared, and his winds unfolded in challenge. Niall ducked halfway behind Zayn, and Liam couldn’t help it, he came running up to them, smiling. “Zayn, Niall!” It took a minute, but he saw the moment when Zayn went from protective to shocked, and his wings sagged down. 

“Liam?” Zayn took in the sight of him and all of his friends. “Wow.” Niall peeked from behind Zayn and grinned hugely.

“Wow. What are you doin’ with all those birds? And um, those.” Niall pointed at the boa constrictor around Liam’s waist.

“That’s Jerry. They follow me around because, I can, you know, understand what they’re saying.” He blushed a little. “I can talk to them, and they to me. It’s really cool.” 

“Yeah,” Zayn drawled. “I’m just surprised it’s not dogs.” 

“No,” Liam said. “No dogs.” He was still a little disappointed about that. Nothing to be done, though. Boris flapped his wings and looked at Zayn and Niall, obviously hoping for a food handout. “But it’s great. I was in Madrid, and they started following me. Then I went out to find them. People just left animals in the zoos, it was disgusting.”

“Did you come on foot? That’s a very long way.” Zayn looked concerned.

“At first. Then I traded some things I found for a bicycle, and later traded the bike for a ride in a horse-drawn cart. The barter system went a long way in Spain. It’s not as bad there as it is here.” 

Niall was silent as he took that in.“Glad you could help the zoo birds and snakes,” Niall said. “You’ve always been a soft touch for animals. Where are ya staying?” 

Liam blushed. “Found a place that was abandoned and fixed it up. I don’t know why, it’s perfectly fine. I’m not worried about squatters, I keep a few of the eagles to watch the place while I’m gone.” 

Niall nodded. “It’s hard to keep a place now. I miss the old world. I don’t think Zaynie does all that much though. He likes his wings.” Zayn flapped them contentedly, and Jackson the tiny screech owl mimicked him.

“He’s a cutie,” Niall said about Jackson, and then they talked for a little while, moving down the street toward their little shelter. Liam had some money for food, and got them and his menagerie grilled fox and some potatoes. (Not for the birds. Birds hate potato. Snakes didn’t consider them food either.)

Niall nibbled on his food, seemingly glad to see the spread. Liam listened to their stories, which were pretty typical survival tales in the new world. “Have any of you heard word from your families?” Liam said. 

Zayn shook his head. “No. I flew around Bradford, but I couldn’t see anyone. I landed for a bit, but it was too dangerous. There was a big gang war brewing up just then. I haven’t been back. I guess I’m afraid of what I’ll find.” 

“Yeah,” Niall said. “I tried to get a package out to my Da. A bloke was sailing to Ireland. I sent it via him, but I haven’t heard back. He probably just kept it for himself.” Zayn put a hand on Niall’s shoulder, and Liam could see the affection there. He couldn’t say he was surprised.

But he did ask. “So you two are together?” 

They both nodded, Niall smiling and Zayn looking serious and protective. “When Zaynie found me, it just sort of happened. We were living together, and we got even closer. I’d missed him so much, you know.” 

“Yeah,” Zayn said, looking down. Niall squeezed his hand. “I still feel guilty about that.” 

“Don’t,” Liam said, as Jackson flew from his perch to Liam’s head, to groom him. “You wanted to make your own music, and the schedule was a nightmare. Of course you left.” 

“in retrospect, we could all see it coming,” Niall said, and leaned over to kiss Zayn’s cheek. Zayn looked down, with a soft smile on his face. Liam felt happy for his friends, but a bit lonely. He adored his feathered and cold-blooded family, but he still missed having a lover. It had been a while.

“What happened to Harry and Louis?” He said then, suddenly reminded. “They were in America, weren’t they?” There hadn’t been much news from America, although there were rumors of ships trying to sail. There were a lot of rumors. He didn’t know if any of them were true.

“Yeah. Last tweet I ever saw from Harry said they were in New York,” Niall said. “I’m glad it wasn’t LA.” Los Angeles was now a charred husk-a huge city in the middle of a desert meant no water and lots of fires when the Event happened. At least that's what they'd heard. “I hope they’re alive.”

“Yeah, we have no idea what happened to them, but I hope they’re okay.” Zayn finished his food and grabbed another joint, inhaling deeply.

“Yeah, me too.” Liam didn’t know how true any of this was. “Can I crash with you two tonight? I’m sure my place will still be there for me when I’m there. Owls can be very peaceful but they always look angry. It’s a good thing in this situation.”

“You’ve got great security,” Niall said, and he gnawed a bit on one of the bones before throwing it where Jackson could get it. “We’ve got plenty of sleeping bags, let me get you one.” He pulled out a red one, and Liam took it with a hug. 

“Thank you. I’ll sleep over here, I don’t want to get in your way.” For a minute it looked like Zayn would argue with him, but it didn’t happen. It wasn’t really dark yet, but it was starting to rain. Niall and Zayn had done a pretty good job on their shelter, and he found a cozy spot across from where they had their bed set up.

Liam drifted in and out of sleep. After a while, he heard muffled noise coming from Zayn and Niall’s bed. He could hear whispered endearments, and other things. Liam felt another pang of loneliness, and one of his snakes curled up with him. The snake just wanted to share warmth, of course. Snakes and birds of prey didn’t understand loneliness too much. They were experts at getting by alone.

Liam wasn’t a snake though. He was a human, and humans needed to be around others. When they got up, Liam was going to ask if they could move in with him. Niall seemed like he could use a change of scenery. He’d complained a lot about the noise and fights where they lived.

Liam heard a cut-off moan, and he snuggled deeper into his sleeping bag.


End file.
